Yardley seeks funds to preserve land

By PETRA CHESNER SCHLATTER, BucksLocalNews.com

Friday, October 5, 2012

YARDLEY — Council members are hoping to land a Delaware Riverfront Grant to help fund the purchase and preservation of a 2.2-acre field adjacent to the Delaware River and next to the Fitzgearld-Sommer Funeral Home on Delaware Avenue.

A contingent from the borough recently made the trek to Doylestown to make its case for the grant before the Buck County Open Space Board, which administers the riverfront grants program.

During the meeting, Councilman Mike Ruttle delivered a presentation spelling out why the borough should receive the money.

The acquisition, said council members, would prevent the property from being developed and protect the floodplain.

Others attending the Doylestown meeting were grant writer Trish Bunn, borough Manager John Boyle, council Vice President Katherine Cadwallader and council President Joe Hunter.

After hearing the presentation, the open space board voted unanimously to recommend to the Bucks County Commissioners that Yardley Borough receive the riverfront grant. The commissioners have the final say on grant awards.

Cadwallader, in an update to council on Tuesday, said she’s “cautiously optimistic” about landing the grant, but the money’s not in the bank yet.

“We want it but we don’t have the okay from the county,” Cadwallader said. “We don’t have the money yet. If they don’t give us the grant money, we can’t afford to buy .”

In order to buy the Fitzgerald-Sommer property, Cadwallader said the borough has to come up with 25 percent of the appraised value of $497,500.

The borough already has $272,243 in funding through the Bucks County Open Space Program to put toward the acquisition.